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Friday, January 1, 2010

The wolverine

The wolverine is the most endangered of the Swedish predators and is therefore seldom seen in the wild. Less than 200 animals are estimated in the wild in Sweden as it has been hunted by reindeer owners for centuries. A very aggressive predator it can bring down reindeer many times it's size, but only in winter when the snow favours it's large paws over the slender hooves of the reindeer. The reindeer is dismembered and hidden in trees so that the wolverine gets to eat for days without interference by others. These not very sharp photos of the wolverines in Järvzoo is testimony to the difficulties of photographing a dark animal against a white background while a steady sprinkle of snow is dropping. Furthermore it did it's best to get into shelter when we were spotted, so all in all I'm still pleased with the results. Btw Järvzoo is named after this animal as järv in Swedish means wolverine.